The Day You Left Us
by EmeraldNorth
Summary: After seeing his former captain again after so many years, there was only one thing he wanted to do. Punch him. Punch him so hard he'll fly all the way back to Soul Society.


**AN: Hello, there!**

 **This is a one-shot about Matsumoto and Hitsugaya meeting Isshin again after everything that happened, as well as the events leading up to it.**

 **Hints of Hitsuhina, but not too much.**

 **I don't own anything.**

* * *

 **The Day You Left Us**

„Toshiro! Toshiro, have you seen Captain Shiba? He's skipping out on his work again…" A buxom strawberry blonde woman pouted at the lack of her captain in the office.

"It's not as if you are any better, Matsumoto. You could also do some work, you know?" The short third seat stated monotonously. He was almost like a broken record, trying to get his lazy superiors to do their paperwork. He sighed as he finished another stack and pushed it aside.

"Nghhhh, no, I'd rather drink some sake!" She happily skipped over to the captain's desk and opened one of her secret departments, only to find the drawer empty. She whined as she opened all of the other drawers, all of them empty as well. "Toshiroooo, did you take all of my sake bottles again? If you wanted to have some, you could have just asked, you know?"

The young third seat rubbed his forehead. "No, I didn't want to drink it, it'd just be better if the two of you weren't dead drunk all the time. I'm sure Captain Shiba is somewhere dozing off again, setting a bad example." He took a sip of his tea before picking up another document and scanning it for its contents.

The door to the office slid open as a tall individual with messy black hair entered the room. He let out a long yawn before sitting down behind the captain's desk and laying his head down, ready to continue his nap.

"CAPTAIN SHIBA!" Matsumoto shook the black haired man awake before slamming a stack of papers down in front of him. "You should take your responsibilities as a captain serious!"

"Whatever, Rangiku. Just let… me… sleep…" He waved his hand to signal his two subordinates to leave him alone. Matsumoto scoffed as she turned away sharply, flipping her hair in the process. "Come on, Toshiro, let's leave the dear captain to his hard work." She grabbed the shorter white-haired third seat and dragged him out of the office with her.

Isshin Shiba lifted his head to watch them leave as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Toshiro, your girlfriend told me she bumped into your grandmother this morning and that she had something for you."

Toshiro tensed up as he turned around in flash with a slight blush on his cheeks. "I told you before, Hinamori is not my girlfriend!" He left the office with Matsumoto, not awaiting his captain's answer. Isshin chuckled to himself as he returned to his nap.

His mind travelled back to the quincy girl in the World of the Living and something in his gut told him that something was off. He knew he wouldn't get much sleep if he continued to worry about it and a short trip to the World of the Living wouldn't harm anybody. He quickly scribbled a note and left it on his desk before heading to the Senkaimon. He would probably be back before nightfall any which way. Or so he thought.

* * *

It had been ten days. Ten days since Captain Shiba disappeared. The Captain Commander had sent out other Shinigami to the World of the Living, but all of them returned with the same report.

"Captain Shiba's spirit energy has disappeared."

Struck by grief and sadness, Matsumoto and Toshiro did their best to keep the division up and running, but everyone knew they were the ones who suffered the most from the news. The lieutenant had been drinking more than usual and sometimes she would cry in the office. The white haired third seat would usually sit on the tenth division's roof, staring off into the horizon.

On one of those nights, as he was thinking about the times spent with Captain Shiba, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him on the roof before somebody put something over his shoulders. He turned around to look at the mystery person and sighed in relief once he realized who it was.

"If you stay out here too long, you'll catch a cold, Shiro-chan." The brunette sat down next to him and handed him a mug of tea. He took it and thanked her under his breath. The two of them sat under the night sky in comfortable silence before Toshiro decided to speak up.

"Aren't you tired, Hinamori? I know you've been working hard lately…" He trailed off, thinking back to her goals in fifth division. She chuckled sadly and looked at the stars in the sky.

"There you go again, worrying about me… when you should be worrying about yourself."

"Trust me Hinamori, I'm fine…"

She sighed deeply, speaking again before he could make up any excuses. "I know you tell your division members that you're fine, but you can't lie to me. It's all right to be sad, you know." When the white haired boy next to her didn't say anything, she continued. "I didn't get to know Captain Shiba all that well, but he was never anything but kind to me, and I'm sure he was a great captain."

Toshiro kept quiet. It was his way of acknowledging what she said. She gently pulled him into a side hug, his head resting on her shoulder. How long had it been since the last time it was only the two of them, alone, looking at the stars together? Her fingers ran through his white, spiky hair. It was just like the good old days in Junrinan, no Shinigami, no responsibilities, no dead captains. He was always one to keep to himself, especially with the limited amount of people in his life.

"I'm scared." The white haired boy spoke up. "I'm scared, Momo."

She knew what he meant, after all, she had heard the rumours and many of her fellow Shinigami had asked her what she knew about it. She caught him addressing her by her first name and smiled slightly.

"I don't want to be a captain yet, Momo, it's too early…"

"Don't worry, Shiro-chan, you'll be a great captain. I believe you will be." She smiled at him reassuringly. He remained silent as he took in what she said.

"Didn't you say you'd stop calling me that once I went to the academy with you?"

"It feels awkward to call you 'Third seat Hitsugaya'. You're one of the most important people in my life, you know?" She was thankful that he couldn't see the blush on her cheeks once she realized she had said that out loud.

He sighed. "You're almost as bad as Matsumoto…" The brunette let out a short laugh at his remark. A small smile made its way to his face.

"Thank you, Momo…"

"Anytime, Shiro-chan."

"There you go again…"

"I don't know what you mean, Shiro-chan."

"You'll be the death of me one day, you know?"

* * *

It wasn't as bad as he had feared. With Rangiku actually doing her work in the first few weeks and help from Captain Ukitake, Toshiro soon got the hang of being a captain. His division supported him for the most and the best they could, and the other captains respected him as one of them. Captain Aizen and Hinamori would also come over to help out sometimes. Every now and then, Hinamori would drag Toshiro out of his office because he was working too much, and she would force him to spend some time with her. Every now and then, they would visit the Shiba family grave and pay their respects to their late captain. And with the passing time, things got better.

It wasn't long before the ryoka invaded Soul Society and the whole Aizen ordeal was revealed. Hitsugaya felt betrayed once again, not only for himself, but also for Hinamori, who had suffered much more from the whole mess. He would stand in front of her Division Four room, not knowing the words to apologize for failing to protect her and how to explain what had happened with the captain she had adored so much. Every time he thought back to her attacking him with tears in her eyes, his heart clenched. He hated seeing her cry.

Captain Unohana knew about his dilemma, but it was something he had to resolve on his own. All she could do was make sure to keep Lieutenant Hinamori safe until he was ready. There was only so much kido and medicine could do. He had been through a lot, with not only one, but two captains who had thrown away the trust he placed in them so easily.

And sometimes he questioned whether he was really worthy of being a captain.

The white haired captain welcomed the distraction when he was sent to the World of the Living with Matsumoto, Kuchiki, Abarai, Madarame and Ayasegawa. They met up with Ichigo Kurosaki to discuss the impending danger of the Arrancar. He hadn't expected too much of the Kurosaki clinic, but something was nagging him in the back of his mind. After seeing Kurosaki's siblings he couldn't help but recall how Kuchiki had said that Ichigo reminded her of Kaien Shiba. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this. He could see in his lieutenant's eyes that she felt the same.

"ICHIGO! Ichigo! I heard you had some friends over!" It sounded too familiar. It couldn't be. The voice that had laughed with him, at him and at any other given time, the voice that would always reassure him, the voice that sounded almost like a father to him.

"Ichigo! Introduce them to m-" The moment Isshin Kurosaki popped his head into his son's room, he froze mid-sentence. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him and he regretted his curiosity immediately. Maybe he shouldn't have done this…

"Jeez, dad, don't just come barging in like that!" Leave it to Ichigo to not be able to read the mood and attempt to kick his father in the head. What really surprised the orange haired youth was the lack of defense his father showed. Instead, he was still staring in the direction of the Shinigami in their gigais.

"Oh come on, old man, don't stare like that, it's rude you know?" Ichigo muttered as he whacked his father.

"Captain… Shiba…" Rangiku was the first to speak up. She couldn't believe her eyes. It was really him. It was their captain. She felt the first tear fall down her cheek. Then she turned to white haired boy next to her and started shaking his shoulders.

Hitsugaya remained silent. His thoughts were currently too jumbled up to get anything out.

"Captain… Look, it's the captain…"

"Guys, what's going on?" Ichigo inquired with clear confusion.

Ignoring his question completely, Rangiku let go of her current captain's shoulders and headed straight for the doctor.

Isshin Kurosaki didn't know what to say. He knew his son had been in contact with the Seireitei for some time now, but he never expected to see his division members again. His other family, the family he left behind.

That's why he couldn't blame his former lieutenant for slapping him as hard as she did.

"Why… Why… WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU WERE OK?!" she screamed between sobs.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE?"

He waited for the second strike, but something interfered. Or rather, someone. He looked up to see his former third seat holding on to Rangiku's wrist, keeping her from striking once more.

He had that mask on again. The mask that meant he was trying to keep his cool and stay mature. But his eyes betrayed him. Those deep turquoise eyes were full of anger, sadness and weariness, and most of all, pain.

"OKAY, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" Everybody turned to the exasperated strawberry in the room. "Will somebody please explain what is going on?!"

"We have just solved two mysteries at once." The tenth division captain replied coldly. "One, where you have your Shinigami powers from. Two, what happened to the former captain of the tenth division two decades ago."

He let go of his lieutenant's wrist and she slumped to the ground, crying.

Isshin Kurosaki brought a hand up to tough the red part of his cheek, hissing at the sting. "Well, Rangiku sure still slaps like I remember it." He mumbled into the awkward silence.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya had sorted out his thoughts and emotions. There was only one thing on his mind.

Punch him. Punch him so hard that he'll fly all the way back to Soul Society.

* * *

 **AN: And there you have part one!**

 **Feel free to point out any grammar errors or typos, or leave your general thoughts in a review :) I would highy appreciate it :)**

 **[Edit 11.03.18: I lied about this becoming a two-shot. I tried writing the second part, I really did, but it never felt right :/ sorry]**

 **~Emi**


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